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The aspect ratio is messed up.

Whistling past the graveyard.

Dave, do you have a financial interest in this strike ending?

Martin... does ANYONE have a tacit financial interest in this strike continuing past next week?

Well, I guess a question is "how is film journalism/entertainment journalism" affected by the strike, financially?

It's being felt by the networks first, in some reduced ratings which lead to reduced ad costs, though shows like American Idol and The Apprentice, coming back for new seasons shortly will be able to raise rates as a result. (CBS should be rushing Big Brother into production... it is, unlike Survivor or The Great Race, a mostly live show, so it can be set up and started quick. All they need is a gimmick and some casting. Even if they haven't had much rating success out of summer, it is cheap, quick programming that fills a lot of hours.)

Major print outlets have probably been doing well with the strike, as the lack of talk shows mean a greater need to reach audiences by whatever means... including more web advertising.

As for entertainment journalism in general, except for the cancellation of the upfronts, things have been pretty much as usual. There is still a full slate of movies to cover, though studios are cutting back on some costs, using the strike as cover. We will begin to feel a pinch in the spring... but by summer, strike on or off, the push for those films will still be huge.

As for MCN, things are pretty much normal. We are sold out on ad space, which happened before the strike and locks buyers in on a favored nations basis through the entirity of Phase I. We will see if there is an effect on Phase II, which starts after the nominations.

If The Globes are substantively damaged and there is a threat of the same from the WGA, studios will start formulating a reaction and a course for the future, which I suspect most will follow through Phase II. That might be more advertising, pretending the Oscars are coming no matter what or it might be extreme caution. Right now, it's impossible to see what the wave will be.

As someone outside the industry, to me that's one of your most revealing and interesting commentaries on the strike. The rest of the strike discussions feel redundant to me... it's all been said by now, it's time to sit down and settle. I don't know that Phase II is inevitable, I think we'll know the answer to that by the 2nd week of January.

It's amazing you haven't addressed the nature, impact and consequences of packaging, a subject bought up by Scott Wilson in the original Part II you posted.

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